MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2011
LOCAL
Kuwaiti survivor in Japan’s M9.0 quake talks with tears, hopes Embassy praised for positive efforts TOKYO: Kuwaiti citizen Abdullah AlMudafar and his family, who survived last week’s magnitude 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that devastated northeastern and eastern Japan, expressed gratitude to the Kuwaiti Embassy here for offering them special attention. In an interview after arriving in Tokyo in peace from the quake -hit Kesennuma City, Abdullah described how the Al-Mudafar family-his Japanese wife Miyuki and three children Yousef, Kazem and Sarah escaped from the catastrophe that has claimed more than 8,000 lives. Abdullah, 49, who runs a cram school and private English school, lived a happy life for 23 years in Kesennuma City in Miyagi Prefecture (390 km north of Tokyo) until the March 11 quake devastated the city. “When the massive quake struck here at 2:46 pm, I was working in the cram school adjacent to my house. It was too strong to keep standing. Bookshelves and furniture in my office collapsed, and I hastily dived under a large table to protect myself. The quake lasted more than 2 minutes,” Abdullah said. “I have come through many earthquakes in Japan, but never experienced such a big one. When the temblor stopped, I crawled to my house, then found Kazem and Sarah intact under a table. All the furniture fell down and walls crumbled.” His wife Miyuki was out at the moment the earthquake occurred, while the eldest son Yousef was also safe in Sendai City, about 90 km southwest of Kesennuma. Miyuki rushed home and urged Abdullah and their children to immediately flee to higher ground in the wake of tsunami warning. “After slipping into a car, we picked up Miyuki’s mother who lives nearby and raced to a hill. The road was filled with panicking crowds from fear of an impending tsunami,” he said. The family managed to reach a hill, where Abdullah saw a hideous scene below his eyes “just like a movie.” Thick brown smokes rose above the ocean, giant oil tanks float in the water like footballs and fires broke out in many places. The family stayed overnight in their car at the hill. A series of fires and flooding continued to be seen on the next day across Kesennuma City known for its fishing industry. The water level there was still very high when Abdullah returned to his house to
check its condition, forcing him to sink to his tummy in the water. “I was completely shocked. Only pillars were barely able to stand, and my house and newly-built cram school totally lost their original shapes. Inside my house, I saw a lot of dead fish
embassy,” said Abdullah. “ The Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Abdulrahman AlOtaibi provided us with transportation to Tokyo, temporary accommodation and necessities, which reflect courteous attention and great care by our government for
The Al-Mudafar family brought by tsunami waves,” he said. The Al-Mudafar family took refuge for five days at Miyuki’s relatives’ house, where there were no water, electricity and telecommunications, while food was scarce following the twin natural disasters. “We cried a lot, but tried to laugh together to lighten up our spirit,” said Abdullah. In the meantime, their eldest son returned from Sendai City, where he studies at the university, to search for his family. “After going back to Sendai again, Yousef was connected with the Kuwaiti Embassy in Tokyo through Facebook and other communication tools. Once an emergency cellular phone facility was established at Kesennuma’s city hall several days after the quake, I finally managed to call the
Kuwaiti citizens. We will remember this forever,” Abdullah said. He also expressed gratitude and appreciation to Ambassador Al-Otaibi and embassy staff for their desperate efforts in ensuring safety of his family and tracing them. “Our comfortable life, beautiful house, family memorabilia and new school building in Kesennuma suddenly disappeared, and we have to restart our life from zero. But I thank God for saving my family from the catastrophic disaster. The road ahead will be bumpy, but we won’t give up,” Abdullah said in tears. “I love Japan and the Japanese people, as much as my homeland Kuwait.” Abdullah plans to return to Kuwait and spend time for a while to reassure his
Kuwaiti family and relatives, who spent sleepless nights after losing contact with the Al-Mudafar family since the March 11 quake. “I asked my wife and children to travel with me to Kuwait. But my children said to me, “Many of our friends and classmates are still missing, and we cannot leave them behind. So, please let us stay in Japan for them. But we want you to go back to Kuwait on behalf of us and tell our Kuwaiti relatives that we are fine, then come back to us.” I was deeply impressed,” Abdullah said. Despite such a disaster, Abdullah considers himself lucky to be in Japan. “I was amazed to see how the Japanese people were well-behaved and stayed true to spirits of mutual aid in such a dire condition. “Unlike many other countries, here in Japan, people did not scramble or wrestle for water and food even when everything was in short supply. The Japanese people patiently and orderly waited their turns in a long queue, and when they received a little portion of food or relief goods, they never missed saying “Thank you.” Everyone was keen to help each other while crying for the loss of their loved ones and properties,” he said. Abdullah also worked as a volunteer at a supermarket owned by Miyuki’s brother to give water and living necessities to the people for free. He also shared candles, dry batteries, rice, water and other essentials with those who were in need. For his part, Ambassador Al-Otaibi said that the embassy hired a professional rescue team to locate the Al-Mudafar family, and the team completed its task on March 19 by bringing the family from Kesennuma to Tokyo. “The emergency measure was taken under the instructions of the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khalid Al-Jarallah, which underlines the care and attention by the Kuwaiti government toward our nationals,” Al-Otaibi said. The diplomat also said the embassy has arranged a comfortable accommodation for the Al-Mudafar family in Tokyo until the situations return to normal, expressing his readiness to provide further assistance and support necessary for them. According to the National Police Agency, as of March 20 noon, 8,133 people were confirmed dead and 12,272 others remained missing. In the hardest-hit Miyagi Prefecture alone, at least 4,882 people were killed. — KUNA
Kuwaiti envoy visits Indonesian energy minister JAKARTA: The Kuwaiti Ambassador accredited to Indonesia, Nasser Bareh Al-Enezi, last Wednesday paid a formal visit to Dr Darwin Zahedy Saleh, Indonesian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, conveying the best wishes of Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti Minister of Oil and of Information, to the eminent official. During the meeting, the ambassador not only reminded the minister of the invitation extended to him earlier to attend the forthcoming ‘Fourth Asian Oil and Energy Ministerial Round-Table Meeting’ scheduled to take place in Kuwait from April 17-19, but also assured Dr. Saleh of Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah’s eagerness to welcome him to the upcoming event. Dr Saleh, meanwhile, expressed his immense gratitude to the Kuwaiti minister for initiating such an important meeting, more especially during such a crucial period when the Middle East region is facing an energy crunch, along with other major problems. He confirmed that he will be attending next month’s meeting in Kuwait, expressing his keen anticipation of meeting with his counterparts, not only from Kuwait but from many other nations as well, with Ambassador Al-Enezi formally thanking him in advance for confirming his attendance at the high-level meeting. The Indonesian minister also lauded the initiatives taken by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah, wishing his Kuwaiti counterpart every success with the highly important upcoming meeting. Dr. Saleh was in absolute agreement with the ambassador over the need to utilize all possible ways and means of further enhancing and strengthening the bilateral relations between their two fraternal countries. Kuwait and Indonesia have maintained strong and longstanding, mutually cooperative relations in various fields, including energy, and economic, social and political issues and this relationship continues to grow and expand with time, said the two officials. Discussions during last week’s meeting focused in particular on exploring the different avenues available to both nations for more cooperation on investment in the oil and energy sectors, which it is felt will mutually benefit both countries.
Kuwait Times photography competition 2011 Kuwait Times Photography Competition 2011 ends on 30th of March 2011. We are encouraging everyone who likes snapping pictures to submit as many photos as they can. The competition is open to everyone who is armed with a camera. One thing needs to be considered: the photos sent should have an original coupon stick at the back which should include complete information. The last day for receiving entries is 2nd of April 2011. The coupon has to be given at the reception of Kuwait Times office in Shuwaikh. There will be a dinner party for the winners from the participants either in Crowne Plaza or Holiday Inn. We are very honored to have the professional judges where we invited to choose among the best. Three judges will be on the judge panel and will make the final choice of winners. Uwe W. Wruck is a Commercial Photographer. He was born in 1954 in Germany. He was educated as a Photographer in Pyrmont/Hannover (BoPh). He holds a Master of Photography (MoPh, Bundesfachschule fuer Fotografie, Hamburg). He has Education as Aerial Photographer for the Air Force in Germany (Munich). He has been working in Germany for different Studios, in the field of People , Still live , Food and Industrial Photography. During that time he had several Exhibitions of his Photographic Works in Hamburg, Hannover , Koeln (Photokina) and Munich. In 1983 he moved to Kuwait and started the Commercial Studio for Boushahri Studios Worked for Boushahri Camera Arts 15 Years. In 1997 he founded with Reda Salem “Photographics” and “Photogenics”. We operated a Commercial and Portrait Studio in Salmiah. In 2004 he started “Uwe W. Wruck Photography” in Jabriyah. He has been working for the last 40 Years in Photography Publications in Magazines and Books and price winning Competitions during this time. Much of his Work in Commercial Photography can be
seen in the shelves and freezers of Supermarkets , Magazines / News Papers and Street Posters etc. In 2004 he made an Exhibition “20 Years of Kuwait” (with 190 Images of Kuwait). A year later he received an “ KAAA “ Award for Outstanding Advertising Photography. The same year he received prizes from KUNA and SAS / Radison. / Chevron Competitions His past Work reaches into all fields of Commercial Photography. He say he still enjoys Photography as a Hobby and Art. The second judge is Konstantin Assenov, executive creative director at Paragon Marketing Communications. He is a holder of a master’s degree in Fine Arts from the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Having more than 30 years of experience in the field of visual arts, graphic design, advertising, photography and mass communications, Konstantin has work featured in several international books on graphic design, branding and corporate identity. An active member of the IAA Kuwait Chapter, he has been part of judging panels at many creative awards. Konstantin is the author of more than 200 logos, more than half of which are created for companies in Kuwait. An avid photographer, Konstantin has work published and used in a wide platform of media such as packaging, advertisements and profiles. The third judge is Louai Alasfahani - Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Paragon Marketing Communication, an independent award winning agency with offices in Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman and Bulgaria established in 2001. In January 2010 Louai Alasfahani raised to the rank President of the International Advertising Association (IAA Kuwait Chapter) from his previ-
ous rank as IAA Secretary General. Back in December 1996 Louai Alasfahani helped in the establishment of the IAA Kuwait Chapter and has since its inception maintained his membership and support to make the local chapter the force it is today. He is also an active member of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) and the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). Louai Alasfahani’s work over the past two decades has won him numerous local, regional and international creativity awards. His work can be enjoyed on the pages of more than 18 international book titles on the subject of creativity and design. His most coveted award till date is Kuwait’s 1st (and only) corporate social responsibility (CSR) award as Louai has a strong conviction in the power of communication and its positive effect on our lives when practiced responsibly. When Louai Alasfahani was elected in 2005 to judge the Summit International Awards (SIA) he became the first and till date - the only Arab national to hold such honor. His continues reelection to judge SIA and other local and regional competitions as well as being the official representative of both the Dubai Lynx and Cannes Lions festivals for creativity is an indication of the respect the industry has for his personal achievements and trust in his professional integrity. He is a regular guest speaker in numerous universities in Kuwait and the United Kingdom. In his spare time, Louai Alasfahani regularly contributes articles to specialized trade magazines such as Arab Ad, GMR, Campaign ME, Communicate, Media Week, Byte, Al Tasweq Al Arabi, Aswaq, Awraq, Focus Intelligence report and others. In 2008 He created and still manages a bloganubis.com a blog on intellectual property, creativity and Integrated Marketing Communications that is one-of-itskind in the Middle East. His passion is equally split between graphic design and photography.